The Trials
by xegil
Summary: Arbiter awakes in a strange place, surrounded by both familiar and unfamiliar faces.
1. Day One

**DAY 1**

A wall of monitors lit up the room.

The room was concrete, and empty aside from a queen sized bed covered in black blankets, its one inhabitant, and a desk in front of a wall of that was covered in screens. A fan was blowing to the side of the desk, rotating 90 degrees for 15 seconds, then switching directions.

Everything in the room was tidy. The desk clean of dust and any junk, with a small garbage can sitting to the side. The bed was meticulously made, free of any wrinkles. A red, cylindrical laundry basket sat in one corner of room.

In front of the Desk, sat the one inhabitant of the room. He sat in a black leather desk chair, swivel wheels on its base. He wore a red, collared, short sleeve shirt, with the three buttons under his neck done up. He wore black gym shorts, stopping just enough to cover his knees. He was slightly overweight, but not too overweight to be called tubby. His black hair was hand brushed to the side. His face was unshaven, and bags were forming under his eyes. He fidgeted constantly, cracking his fingers and looking around everywhere, never focusing his eyes on one for too long spot.

His name was Todd.

Todd stared at the screens, watching them impatiently. The screens covered an entire wall, as if the entire wall itself was one big TV screen. Many of the screens showed empty rooms and corridors, with the exception of one room, shown in various angles. The room was like that of a small warehouse, and was filled with rows of...beings. It could not be said that they were just people, as they were extremely diverse.

Some wielded weapons, such as rifles and handguns or even swords. Many were covered in armor that was in every color imaginable. Some were wearing regular clothes. Some were wearing period clothes, and even futuristic clothes. Many were obviously not even human. Hoofs, armored skin, scaly skin, green skin, grey skin, and unnatural sizes gave hint that they were not exactly homo sapiens sapiens. They all stood frozen, not moving or even showing signs of breathing.

Todd was currently not focusing on them; he was more focused on the loading screen. The screen showed 97%, the bar almost reaching the end. Todd did not understand why we still had loading screens, as we should've advanced past all that in the current years.

Todd looked at the bag that was sitting on his desk; a bag of chocolate peanut-butter cups. He _was_ going to save them for when they woke up, a sort of snack for the show, _buuuuut_ he really wanted to start having them now. After much deliberation, he decided _screw it_ and ripped the bag open, placing the ripped piece into the garbage can to side, as well as the cup wrapper, and popped the chocolate into his mouth, tasting the sweet taste mixing with the peanut taste.

...99%.

Todd pulled up a handheld vacuum, cleaning tiny bits of chocolate crums he got on his desk.

...100%.

After the bar reached the end, it cleared itself. Several other bars appeared, instantly loading themselves. Finally, the bars were done, and an icon that said 'Continue' and another that said 'cancel' appeared.

Before clicking on either, Todd opened one of the other windows, showing the status of the programs. _personality, check... Memories, check...Language, check...skills, check...behavior...body language..._ Satisfied with his diagnostics, he opened the other window back up, and clicked continue.

* * *

The Arbiter grasped the fleet admiral's hand, a gesture of friendship among the humans, "Hard to believe he's dead."

He looked at the memorial. A green, metal shard stood out, surrounded by flowers, pictures of fallen soldiers, and rifles with green hats on top the barrels. Thel 'Vadam noticed the picture of the sergeant Johnson, an honorable man who died fighting the mad oracle. He looked away from the picture, at the metal shard it was adorned on. On it, written in the human language, were the words _In Memory of Those Fallen in the Defense of Earth and her Colonies March 3, 2553._

Thel almost made a chuckle, reminiscing the irony of the situation. "Were it so easy." He said, in response to Hood's remark on the Demon being dead.

Vadam looked up, expecting to see the former Covenant ship, the _Shadow of Intent..._ only to be met with a concrete ceiling.

"Wha-?" Arbiter, dumbfounded, looked to where the memorial was, only to see a group of beings standing in a line, and another line behind that line. He looked around, seeing a being of an unknown race standing to his left, and a human woman standing to his right.

The being to his left was about his height, was covered in red armor, had scaly skin, a large hump on his back, a forehead covered in a shell-like red armor plate, and had red eyes. The young human woman to his right had short black hair, a blue skirt that covered her knees, a white shirt with a blue and gold collar, and blue eyes. They both looked as equally confused as the arbiter.

The being to his left brought up a weapon, aiming it around, "Where the hell-?"

"Ellie," A bearded human in dirt covered clothes looked ready to kill something, "stay close!"

A young human woman in a red shirt with black sleeves pulled a handgun out, standing next to the bearded man.

The woman next to Thel 'Vadam heard the voice, and gasped, "Booker?"

Another human male in a blue jumpsuit covered with armor pieces noticed a woman dressed just like him, "...Nora?"

The blue clothed woman saw him and completely freaked out. She pulled up a rifle, aiming it at the blue man, "Stay back!"

"Don't move!" A group of armored men formed a circle, weapons pointing out. They wore white armor, with helmets that had T shaped visors, separately covered in red, orange, yellow, and green painting. The orange one seemed to be the leader.

"What the fuck!" A bald woman covered in tattoos glowed blue, a mist emanating from her body.

Chaos stuttered to bubble around the Arbiter. Many seemed to arm themselves, bringing out a whole plethora of various weapons. Guns, lasers, energy weapons, swords, bows, axes, and energy swords were all visible. He may have even noticed a tentacle in the mix.

All the chaos was halted, when a noise drew everyone's attention.

A mechanical noise. One of a motor. Everyone looked around for the source of the noise, eventually finding a large man. The man was bald, wore a black and grey vest with a red t-shirt underneath, and a bullet belt wrapped around his shoulder to the armpit opposite.

And in his hand...was the biggest mini-gun anyone had ever seen. And it was spinning.

His face contorted, as he let out a roar. Everyone in the direction of his gun jumped out of the way, avoiding the thunderous eruption. Those who were too slow were torn apart, crumpling into bloody messes. One of the white armored men, with red paint on his helmet, aimed his sniper rifle, and a blue laser struck the mini-gun, halting it.

The bald man looked at the melted metal on his gun in shocked surprise, "Sasha!" His face contorted in rage, as he charge at the armored men.

Everyone else began attacking each other as well.

The blue man and woman were now shooting at each other, and the man looked like he didn't want to fight. They took cover behind the bodies of massive beings that were caught in the bald ones rampage, with the woman firing her rifle and the man a handgun. Nora, if that was her name, was able to get a shot on the man's shoulder. The man clutched the wound, pulling out a syringe and injecting it into himself. The bullet slipped out of the wound, and it healed almost instantly.

The bearded man and red clothed girl were now shooting at everyone, choosing random targets. They were crouched down, firing shots out with their handguns, when a brown short-haired asian woman stalked up behind, raising a strange handgun at them. The handgun seemed to open, as if it was some kind of mouth, and had a teal glow. A voice sounded from the gun, "Crime Coefficient: 350. Enforcement Mode is Lethal Eliminator."

A blue beam fired from the gun, hitting the bearded man. At first nothing seemed to happen, then his arm bloated, and he exploded into a bloody mess, spraying blood on everyone around him. "Joel!" The woman, Ellie, stared wide eyed at where her partner used to be. She let out a shrieking scream.

 _Madness..._ Arbiter, who had ducked down to avoid being targeted, watched the horrific scenes around him unfold. Blood was everywhere, people were beating each other up, slamming whatever weapon they had into each other. Arbiter felt a presence behind him...

He whipped out the handle of his energy sword, the blade exploding out, and swung at his adversary. He stopped, when a familiar gold visor filled his sight. "...Demon?"

"Get down!" He grabbed my shoulder, forcing me down as something big swung over us. I looked behind me to see a white haired human, wearing a black leather mask that covered his mouth and right eye. The mask bore fake teeth along a zipper, and his eye was completely black, save for a red iris. Giant red tentacles were sticking out from his back.

A man in a white hood snuck up behind him, a tomahawk in one hand. He raised it, and threw it at the masked one's back. The tentacles intercepted the small axe, smashing the wooden handle into pieces, and impaled the hooded man. The hooded man crumpled to the floor, the tentacle leaving a giant wound in his body.

The tentacle swung at chief, which he blocked with his assault rifle. The tentacle actually broke the rifle in half, so the chief discarded the pieces. "Demon!" The arbiter got his attention, and took out a spare energy sword. He threw the sword at him, and arbiter swung his own up just in time to block a strike from a tentacle. His sword sliced it in half, with it falling to the floor, wiggling, and eventually disintegrating. He heard the sound of the chief's sword springing to life.

The monster human went full out. His tendrils began to strike excessively, trying to score a hit at their chests and heads. Arbiter and the Chief swung their swords, blocking the fast tendrils as they came towards them. The no-weight swords made it extremely easy to swing them, but dealing with a fast and multi armed opponent made the effort exhausting. But it was clear that he was also becoming exhausted.

It, seeing as how he was like some savage beast, pulled back, having lost a significant mass of it's tendrils to our blades. Arbiter took the time to look around.

The white armored were now all dead, and the bald giant was now trying to stand. That was hard, seeing as how his entire torso was covered in bloody holes. He tried to use his giant gun as a crutch to keep him standing, but eventually the blood loss got to him, and he took a tumble to the concrete floor.

Ellie, the woman in the red shirt, was sitting next to the bloody body of the asian woman who had killed her partner, Joel. She held a machete in one arm, her other arm having been blown off, and was beginning to lose consciousness from the blood loss.

The people in blue were now dead, having filled each other with enough bullet holes to kill a brute.

The bald, tattooed woman and the unknown armored creature were cornering an extremely pale human woman, who was wearing light armor and a red hood over her head. She looked badly wounded, but nothing fatal, and was on the ground with a pistol out.

"Give it up, bitch" The bald woman spat at her.

The red hooded woman pulled out a metal device, and it started to generate a beeping noise...

"Oh shit!" The bald woman erected a glowing shield around her.

The red hooded woman exploded. The blast stunned arbiter and the chief, and dust filled the room.

Arbiter looked around, trying to see through the dust. He saw the chief, standing up from where he fell to.

A red shape shot out, impaling chief in the chest."NO!"

The chief stared confusingly at the tendril sticking into his chest. The tendril lifted him up above the ground, and swung him off its tip, into the wall behind him. Blood poured out of the hole in his chest.

Arbiter angrily looked at the monster, "Why!?"

It didn't speak, it just released a guttural growl as it swung all its tendrils at the Arbiter. A tendril came to his right, and was sliced in half. Another to his left and front, both sliced. He jumped and rolled as three tendrils struck the empty concrete ground, springing up dust.

He got back his bearings just as he saw two tendrils coming at him. He raised his sword, slicing the other. But the other one was too close, and he tried to block it with his fist. The tendril struck his fist, breaking his shield instantly. The shot dazed him, and the monster took advantage of it.

Arbiter felt a numbness in his chest. He looked down.

Every tendril the monster had was sticking into his chest, indigo blood leaking from his wound. He looked up. The monster was looking right at him, his face inches away from his. The beastly human swiped the zipper on his mask, revealing his true mouth. Its tongue licked its lips.

Arbiter looked back to his fallen comrade. His body was on the ground, unmoving, a red pool around it. The arbiter summoned all the anger he had in his soul, pulled up his sword, and threw it at the beast. The blade embedded itself in the beasts chest, just below his neck.

The tendrils disintegrated, allowing the arbiter to fall to his knees. The beast stood, blade sticking from its chest. It's black eye changed, turning into the regular human white color, his iris a regular brown.

A tear streaked from his eye, "...Touka, I'm sorry." He fell to ground, his body making an audible thud on the concrete floor.

Arbiter looked around. Everyone was dead. The Red creature was a bloody mess. The bald woman had her neck broken. The woman in the blue skirt was riddled with bullets. Chief was lying near the wall, his lifeless body lying in a pool of blood.

Arbiter's head started to feel light, and a numbness began to spread through his body. One thought entered his mind...

...

... _Where am I?_

His vision began to blur, and he fell into an ocean of darkness.

* * *

The monitors showed that the room was now filled with pools of blood. Bodies were everywhere, guts sprayed onto the walls and ceiling, as well as bullet holes. A huge chunk of the wall was blown out, where echo had pulled the pin on her grenade. A screen showed the vital signs of everyone that was in the room; they were all flat lined.

A chocolate peanut-butter cup was halfway to Todd's open mouth, as he just about to have his second when the bloodbath began. He stared stared wide eyed at the screen. A light fixture seemed to fall from the ceiling.


	2. Day two

**DAY 2**

Why did no one tell me it this was hard to stop people from killing each other?

Well, I suppose it's a bit unfair to say that, seeing as how they aren't exactly ordinary people. A majority of them are soldiers, while the rest are….something else that involves a lot of killing.

One thing is for sure, though: They made a huge mess.

There was so much blood the room practically became a pool. Luckily I had a lot of shamwows tucked in a closet, so after half a day or so the room was spotless, with all the broken concrete filled in as well.

I was currently pacing in my room, waiting for the subjects to be prepared. I had been at it for quite a while, so I was working up a bit of a sweat. I had David Bowie music playing on my computer as I paced, but it was cut off as a ping interrupted my pacing.

I took a seat at my desk, clicked the mouse and tapped some keys on my keyboard as I brought the image of the room to my monitors.

The room was indeed repaired. It had lighter patches in the concrete flooring, signifying that those spots had been previously destroyed and later filled in.

All the subjects had been restored to their former condition, and were once again standing motionless. This time I had all their weapons removed, but I imagine that they might end up brawling instead, causing a few injuries and bruising to each other.

At least this time they'll find it harder to kill each other again.

* * *

I was wrong. I was very wrong.

They did it again, using their hands, fists, feet, and teeth to rip, punch, kick, and bite. I also appeared to have forgotten about their FUCKING POWERS!

I somehow forgot all about the telekinesis, super strength, regenerative abilities, and fucking tentacles they all had. As soon as they all awoke, they began fighting again.

The ones with power immediately started to slaughter the powerless. Kaneki ken from Tokyo Ghoul was using his tendrils to impale, grab, and eat some of the powerless, backing a large cluster of them into a corner as he tried to pull some away. Jack from Mass Effect threw a biotic push at Echo from Killzone, knocking her to the ground and proceeding to beat her in teeth clenching rage.

While I was a little frustrated that they had begun killing each other again, there was at least one thing different from the last time: some had escaped.

A couple of the more experienced powerless reasoned that they had to get the fuck out of there, so they went through the nearest exit they could find.

* * *

 **POV Arbiter**

I charged into the door, ripping it off it's hinges, which revealed a hallway. The hallway was nothing but dark grey, concrete brick-patterned walls and speckled marble floor.

I turned and called for the chief, who was alive for the secon- no, this would be the third time, actually. The master chief was keeping a group close to the wall, his back to them as he guarded them, seeing as how they appeared to be civilians. He guided them towards me, keeping himself between them and the slaughter happening around them.

They went through the door, chief coming in last. I guided them down the direction of the hall that didn't have a dead end, ignoring the screaming behind us. I took a left upon realizing the right had a dead end as well. The hall lead us to an open doorway, which we quickly rushed into.

The chief slammed the door close behind us, "Barricade the door" he commanded.

"With what?!" A young human female with blue hair and tattoos indicated that the room was empty.

"In here! There's a bed!" Another young female- Who I recognized from the first awakening as 'Ellie'- called from inside a room.

I ran into the room, and it did indeed contain a bed. It also contained a desk, drawers, a closet for human clothing, and a shelf large enough to hold onto gear.

I took a look outside the room, scanning the rest of the hallway outside, and sure enough, there were other rooms. The hallway was a living area of sorts, with two sets of large balconies above us acting as a second floor with more rooms.

What is this? Some kind of prison? Do they expect us to live in here?

"Hey, lizard thing, are you fucking blind or deaf? Can you even understand me?" I turned to Ellie, who was struck silent, "...the- there's stuff we can use for a barricade in here…"

"Those won't be enough" I replied.

"Holy fucking shit!" She stepped back a bit, "You can talk? How can you with a mouth that's..." She pointed at my face.

"Uh, hey guys?" A dark-skinned human male called our attention away from the room and to the door, "Did you check for a lock?"

This question was, of course, ridiculous to me. The chief would have checked for a lock, as checking for locks would count as a warrior instinct.

To my shock, the chief did indeed check for a lock. After noticing a holopad that was next to the door, in plain view I might add, did he mess with it, causing an audible click to sound from the door. He grabbed the door's handle and shook it, revealing that not only was it locked, but that it was strong enough to withstand the arm strength of a being that could flip what the human warriors would call a 'warthog'.

Now that we were in the clear, I drew my attention to everyone in the room. 4 people, all humans. The dark-skinned human was standing in the middle. He wore a dark-blue, short sleeved button up shirt with white long sleeves underneath up to his wrists, and black jeans. His chest was puffed out and his eyes were emotionless, but I could tell his mind was a storm cloud of questions. As is the same with all of us. The blue haired human female wore a dark blue beanie on her head, a white shirt with a skull underneath a jacket made of leather, and jeans with tears around the knees ending in black boots on her feet. She was rubbing her arm, which was covered in tattoos, shrinking back a bit as my gaze swept over her, "What are your names?"

Their eyes widened as I spoke.

"Ch-Chloe Price" The blue haired stammered.

"...Franklin. Clinton." The dark-skinned spoke more clear.

"Joel" "Ellie" I looked to the door of one of the rooms. Ellie was wearing the same red shirt she wore… the last time, and was standing behind a bearded man in a green shirt, Joel. Her father, perhaps? While Franklin's expressions faked stoicism, Chloe's displaying fear and confusion, Joel and Ellie's furrowed brows and calm bodies displayed experience in dangerous situations. No normal civilian possesses a calm and yet cautious demeanor after being part of a slaughter….twice.

"...We need to keep moving" I heard the chief strode up from behind as he moved to take point of the group, heading towards a door that appeared to lead into another hallway.

"Good. Get me the fuck out of here..." Chloe whispered to herself, but I catched it.

"We're getting you all out of here" I said. She seemed shocked that I heard her.

We wandered through the dark-grey hall, a second doorway at the other end. The door had light coming from it. Sunlight.

We picked up the pace, rushing towards the doorway. When we reached it, we assumed we had reached the outside of the….facility.

We were met with green grass, a small river that pooled into a pond, and a couple of trees. But we realized that our escape was a cruel joke, when we noticed there were dark-grey concrete walls, and that the source of the sunlight were artificial lights, attached to a concrete ceiling.

"The fuck is this?" Franklin was banging his fist on a wall behind a tree.

"An indoor garden?" Joel was checking out a tree, tapping on its bark as if he expected it to be hollow. The room was massive, at least four times the size of the room we awoke in.

"Exit!" Ellie pointed at a door with a large red sign that said exit above it, on the far of the garden. We all rushed to it, me reaching the handle first and pushing it.

Nothing. I try pulling it.

Not even budging.

I curse in my native tongue. I keep pushing and pulling, trying futilely to get it to open. I let out a roar and slam my fist into the door, not even leaving a scratch.

"Are you fucking kidding? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING?!" Chloe started to freak out, balling her hands into fists, face going red.

"This some bullshit! This some motherfucking bullshit!" Franklin was pacing in place, fuming about the situation.

"ENOUGH!" The chief commands.

"FUCK YOU, YOU GIANT DIRT BIKER!" Chloe screamed at the chief, "I JUST FUCKING DIED! MY BODY WAS RIDDLED WITH FUCKING BULLETS!" She threw her arms up, "HOW THE FUCK AM I STILL ALIVE?!"

"We all died-"

"A FUCKING MINIGUN! WHO THE FUCK HAS A MINIGUN?!" She pointed at the chief, "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" She pointed at me, "AND WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!"

"You need to calm down."

"FUCK YOU!"

The chief was itching dangerously close to Chloe, "Calm-"

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK-" She's interrupted from her nervous breakdown when the lights go out, washing us in darkness.

Chloe stopped her screaming at a whimper, sobbing wherever she was. I heard a sigh around me, and the grass rustling as someone walked by. I heard the sound of a branch or three getting broken off a tree. Snap, snap, snap, snap. Hands were rubbing together, real quick. Someone was blowing on something.

Slowly, light started to appear into existence, emanating from a fire in the middle of the group. Joel was on his knees, hovering over it, fueling the fire with twigs he collected and the oxygen from his own breath.

"Won't the smoke from that suffocate us or some shit?" Franklin asked.

"Not if we put it out as soon as we are done with it." He grabbed a large stick, "We can use it to find a door with lights on the other end" He dipped the stick into the fire, lighting one end.

He got up and walked around the large garden, looking for a door. He eventually found one, opening it and letting electric light spill into the garden. He walked to the tiny pond, dropped the stick next to it, dipped his hands in and scooped up water which he splashed on the stick, sizzling the fire out.

"You mind giving me your helmet?" He asked while facing us.

The chief just stared silently at Joel. I took the initiative and slid off my helmet, giving it to him. He dunked it in the water, walked to the other fire and poured water onto it as well, for a brief moment becoming shrouded in darkness. He reappeared when he stepped back into the light casted by the doorway.

"Thanks" He returned the helmet to me, "I never got your name."

"Thel 'Vadam," I slid the helmet back on, " but you can call me Arbiter."

"Let's keep searching for a way out" The chief spoke from behind me, as he and the others went deep into the hallway, leaving me and Joel alone at the doorway.

"What was his name?" He asked.

"You mean you don't know of him? He and the other demons are legendary among your race"

"Demons? Listen, no offense intended, but you are pretty much what any…human," The word seemed to feel strange coming from his mouth, "would call a demon. Tall, strong, and a little bit frightening" He motioned to my face.

I took no offense, knowing that this was simply an observation. It dawned on me, however, that not only does he not know of the master chief's people, but he wasn't aware of my kind as well. "I'm beginning to think we come from very different worlds."

"You don't need to tell me that," He glanced inside the hallway. The rest of the group was already nearing the other doorway. "We should catch up."

I agreed. We continued in a walking pace. We were silent the rest of the way, with me catching glances from him. He was still weary around me.

"Holy Shit! Joel, come look!" Ellie called from the far end of the hallway, and so we started to sprint at a moderate speed.

When we reached the doorway, we were met with a giant warehouse, about as big as the garden. There were rows of large and long shelves, the ends of them facing us. Containers filled all of them, and there were signs sitting at the ends facing us, declaring what was contained on each shelf: Medicine, Food, Clothing, Tools and Utilities. There were also holopads, underneath the signs and at a height we can reach.

The chief walked up to one, underneath 'FOOD'. I walked up behind him to look at it. It showed a map of the corresponding shelf, containers showing up as white icons. He tapped a finger on a box.

I instinctively reached for a non-existent weapon when a loud noise erupted from the ceiling. A giant, robotic arm that had been laying dormant awoke, and positioned itself over the food shelves, where it lowered and extended to reach a crate and pulled it out. It lowered the crate to ground, releasing it from it's grip, then returning to it's spot in the ceiling.

"...Okay, I gotta admit that that's kinda awesome" Chloe commented.

"A bit impractical, though," Chief said as he and Joel walked towards the crate, "a forklift would've done just as well for half the energy."

Joel reached the crate, using his hands to try and look for a way to open it. He tried prying the lid off with his hands, "Gonna need a crowbar…"

The chief walked up, and with no effort ripped it off. "... Thanks."

"Not a problem."

Joel looked inside the crate, sticking his hand in. He lifted what appeared to be a steak in a plastic bag with all the air sucked out of it.

"What the hell is that?" Ellie exclaimed.

Joel ripped the bag open at the top. He took the steak out, chewing a piece off with his teeth.

"It's food" He said after swallowing.

"I can see that. But...why is it here?" Ellie asked.

"Living quarters, a warehouse, a garden, and an exit that doesn't open…" I thought out loud.

"Not to mention that...room" Ellie reminded us of the place we first awoke in.

"It was more like a gym. Big, empty, and where all the workouts happen...such as killing people" Joel pointed out.

Tap tap tap tap tap...I heard something from behind me, and so I turned. I narrowly dodge the swing of a hammer, when I was met with a human female.

"AHHH!" She kept swinging, trying to hit me. The chief came in, grabbing the wrist holding the hammer, and shoving his other arm into her chest, and pushed her to a shelf, holding her there.

"Enough! We're friendlies!" The chief tried to get her to calm down.

She yelled in a language I was not familiar with.

"She's speaking japanese" Joel pointed out.

I faced him, "Do you understand her?"

" 'fraid not" He crossed his arms, looking down a bit as if he was disappointed he couldn't help.

I turned back to chief, "Can Cortana help?"

His head didn't make a move as he held onto her, "...She's not with me"

Oh… I'll have to save this matter for another time. I took a closer look at the female, when horror started to settle into me. I recognized her; it was the same woman who killed Joel and Ellie from the first awakening. The one with a weapon that could instantly kill others…

"Quick! Check her pockets!" I ordered the chief.

He slammed her to the ground, laying her on her chest. He proceeded to ruffle through her pockets. He came up empty.

"If you're looking for some kind of 'special' weapon, you should know we were missing ours when we...awoke for the second time." Joel explained to us.

"The same is true for us." I said, remembering how I first panicked when I couldn't find my energy sword, during the second slaughter. I noticed the chief didn't have his signature human rifle when he was in the...gym, as well.

I realized that she stopped thrashing, and was now simply seething, pushing her forehead into the ground.

"...Let her go" I told the chief. He did so, and she took off on her knees, her back to the shelves, staring at us. She had short, brown hair, and brown eyes. She wore a dark grey suit with a skirt that reached her knees, as well as brown shoes.

I realized she was now in plain view of view of Ellie and Joel. I looked to them, seeing Joel relatively calm, but Ellie's eyes started to grow wide.

"...You. It's you!" She started closing the distance between her and the woman, but I stood in front of her, not letting her pass. "You're the fucking bitch who killed Joel!"

Joel's eyes widened at, "What?"

"SHE KILLED YOU JOEL!" She yelled back at him, "Her gun popped you like a fucking balloon! Right in front of me!"

"Jesus Christ…" Joel looked at Akane as if she was a ghost. She might as well be, since I saw her die not too long ago...right before I died.

"That's enough" The chief stood up, looking at Franklin, "Franklin, go find a flashlight on the tools and utility shelf."

"On it" Franklin took off.

The chief addressed everyone else, "It's pretty clear that we haven't been thinking straight. We're heading back to the quarters, where all of you are gonna pick up a room, and where you're going to stay for the next 12 hours."

"Wait a minute" Chloe pointed an accusing finger at the chief, "Are you fucking grounding us?!"

"Until you learn to calm down, then yes."

"That's fucking bullshit!" Chloe protested.

Ellie was in agreement, "We're not going until we deal with this bitch" She crossed her arms. Joel went to her side, and place his hand on her shoulder.

"Let it go Ellie" He said in a solemn voice. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"But she kille-"

"Let it go" He sternly interrupted. She opened her mouth, trying to find a rebuttal.

When she couldn't, she averted her eyes to floor, "...Fine."

* * *

 **Todd POV**

Well, that was an interesting development.

I watched the group leave the warehouse, taking Akane Tsunemori from the Anime 'Psycho Pass' with them.

I set the screen to show me the starting room. Everyone in there was dead, save one person. I'll have to wait and see what happens next, before I bring the rest back.

I switched the screen to that of a chat forum. Better check in on Klein. I typed into text bar

 **Todd:** Klein, you there?

An icon of a hammer lit up, indicated that he has joined the chat.

 **Klein:** Yeah, just finishing something off. What do you need?

 **Todd:** Just checking in. How's it going on your end?

 **Klein:** Well enough, I suppose. Alas, the work of an engineer never ends. How about you?

 **Todd:** They're up, Klein. Though, things didn't really turn out as expected.

 **Klein:** What do you mean? What are you talking about?

 **Todd:** Nothing to worry about. I have things under control.

 **Klein:** Such a statement means that there is indeed something to worry about.

 **Todd:** The characterbots I've been talking about. I activated them. I'm sending video footage.

He then proceeded to yell at me in text form.

 **Klein:** WHAT!? You activated them!? Isn't it a bit early to be turning them on?! Besides, why didn't you tell me?

I chuckled.

 **Todd:** You've been always the type to panic Klein. Don't worry, they're isolated. But just in case; enhance the security bots. If they escape, I want to be able to deal with them.

 **Klein:** Ok, I'll make the killbots a little... Murder-ier. Seriously, though. We really should have performed some tests or something first...

 **Todd:** That's what this is, Klein: A test. Watch the video, when you get the time. You should be able to get a grasp on the situation.

 **Klein:** Fine, I'll check out the video and get back to you... Let me guess, you just wanted to see Chloe in action, didn't you?

I inwardly panicked, trying to think of a way to change the subject. He knew I had a bit of an...interest, in Chloe. I merely think of her as an interesting specimen.

 **Todd:** Funny thing you mentioned her. There was actually a huge slaughter the first time I woke them up. It was a fluke that she survived the second time, which is what I'm at right now.

 **Klein:** Wait, you failed to mention that you brought them to life TWICE.

 **Todd:** It's alright. I can afford it, I do have the money, after all. And besides, I'm telling you now, aren't I?

I could almost hear the sigh on the other end.

 **Klein:** Yes, I suppose so. Please, be cautious. I wouldn't want any harm coming to my best friend or his experiment, would I?

 **Todd:** Don't worry. I've spent billions on the best defense and medical technology. Nothing bad will happen.

 **Klein:** Still, some of these guys have bloody SUPERPOWERS. The rest have escaped far worse fates.

I cringed at the super powers part.

 **Klein:** Just... Don't underestimate them, ok?

 **Todd:** I won't, Klein. Anyway, you should probably get back to whatever you were working on.

 **Klein:** Yeah, keeping this place afloat IS kinda important, huh? Anyways, good luck.

 **Todd:** You too

The icon went dark. I went back to watching the situation in the bunker.


End file.
